Married Sexuality within the Drama of Creation and Redemption: Humanae Vitae through the Lens of Gaudium et Spes

The Catholic teachings on human sexuality promulgated in Paul VI's 1968 encyclical Humanae Vitae are properly understood within the interpretive context of Vatican II's Gaudium et Spes.² Specifically, Gaudium et Spes provides the broader theological and cultural analysis that renders fully intelligible the teaching of Humanae Vitae on artificial contraception. Living the Church's teaching on sexual morality depends upon the joy (gaudium) and the hope (spes) offered by the Gospel of Jesus Christ. This argument for interpretive context, however, is challenged by those who argue for a discontinuity between these two monumental documents.

In his 2013 The Development of Moral Theology: Five Strands, Charles Curran articulates the now-common revisionist narrative that presents Humanae Vitae as a retrogressive step away from the supposed progressive approach of Gaudium et Spes. He distinguishes the two documents through two supposed dichotomies: pastoral versus didactic and personalist versus natural law. Curran follows John O'Malley in describing the pastoral approach of Gaudium et Spes as belonging the epideictic literary genre,³ and he contrasts this epideictic genre, which seeks to inspire appreciation for an ideal, with the dialectic genre, which seeks to "prove a point" or "win an argument."⁴ According to this questionable view, Gaudium et Spes seeks to inspire in a pastoral tone whereas Humanae Vitae attempts simply to be right. The implication is that the Church may offer inspiration but may not prescribe norms for conduct.

Curran continues the contrast between the two documents in his treatment of natural law. He affirms that Gaudium et Spes "does not emphasize the use of the natural law" and uses the term only three times.⁵ In contradistinction, Curran summarizes Humanae Vitae as basing its teaching on the natural law:⁶ "The pope repeated the condemnation of artificial contraception based on natural law… . Spouses must conform their activities to the very nature of marriage and its acts."⁷ Ironically, Gaudium et Spes uses almost identical language in referring to "the nature of the human person and his acts" as the basis for the exclusion of artificial contraception.⁸ The problem, however, according to Curran is that Humanae Vitae bases its teaching not only on natural law but also on a false interpretation of natural law. He summarizes the revisionist approach that challenged the papal understanding of natural law in three areas: "The problem of physicalism, the lack of historical consciousness, and the emphasis on the teleology of the faculty with the failure to give primary importance to the person and the person's relationships."⁹ The critique of physicalism is that "such an approach seems to canonize what nature teaches human beings and all the animals and does not allow human reason to interfere in these biological and animal structures."¹⁰ The second critique faults the document for assuming stable, consistent understanding of human nature, which instead "itself is historically developing and changing."¹¹ Curran argues that "a more historically conscious methodology cannot claim the same certitude for its proposals that a classicist approach does."¹² Finally, Curran juxtaposes the teleology of the sexual faculty with a personalist approach that allows one to interfere with natural processes for the good of the relationship.¹³ Thus, according to Curran, a proper understanding of natural law would eschew reference to biological realities and focus instead on autonomous, ever-developing reason.

Curran consolidates his criticism of Humanae Vitae by saying not simply that it is wrong, but also that Humanae Vitae could not be right, since human reason cannot achieve the certainty of definitive moral prohibitions. He argues that moral truth cannot be taught with the same level of certitude as speculative truth. He asserts that "moral certitude by definition is a special type of certitude that does not claim to be certain."¹⁴ Since reason cannot reach definitive conclusions, Curran claims, it was necessary for the Church to turn to authority to come to a determination: "Humanae Vitae indicates that the teaching authority of the Church and...